Four Ghanaian women have been awarded the L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science Young Talents Sub-Saharan Africa Awards.

The L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Young Talents Sub-Saharan Africa Awards is an award scheme that enables its laureates to benefit from financial support to help them pursue their scientific careers in their home countries or abroad.

Dr. Mary Amoako is a post-doctoral researcher in nutrition and dietetics at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

She was awarded for exploring how diets and nutrition influence the possibility of babies developing clefts (OFC).

Bernice Konadu Agyeman, a doctoral student in environmental sciences was awarded for exploring drinking water quality in Ghana, with a view of enabling policymakers to address the risks of waterborne diseases.

Dorcas Atibilla, a Doctoral student in medical entomology was also an awardee for her work to help fight malaria in Ghana and beyond by better understanding mosquito behaviour, transmission and insecticide resistance.

Emma Edinam Kploanyi is a doctoral student in epidemiology at the School of Public Health, University of Ghana.

She was awarded for her research on interventions for the prevention, testing and treatment of viral hepatitis B and C in Ghana.

Chief Executive Officer of Fondation L’Oreal, Alexandra Palt mentioned that “enabling such talents to emerge onto the public stage and be recognised for the excellence of their work requires urgent action on multiple levels.

"It is a responsibility that we must all take on- institutions, businesses, civil society and citizens both men and women.”

For the 14^th edition of the Fondation L’Oreal-UNESCO seeks to reinforce its commitment to promote gender equality in science by rewarding 30 young talented women researchers.

Unlike last year, there has been an increase in ten awards.